The Women's Party

The Women’s Party was a short-lived political party founded in 1917 by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel Pankhurst.

At the 1918 General Election, following the passing of the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918, the party stood Christabel as a candidate in the Smethwick constituency in Staffordshire. She won 47.8 per cent of the vote, losing by only 778 votes to her only opponent, the Labour Party's John Davison.

The party pushed for a liberal agenda that would see women get equal political rights to men; equal marriage and divorce laws; equal pay; maternity benefits and the abolition of trade unions.

It was also strongly focused on the war. The Women’s Party wanted Britain to put more effort into finishing the fight with Germany. On the home front, it called for more food kitchens, more extreme war measures to reduce wastage and the closing down of non-essential industries.

See also: The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps